U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-New York, chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

ALAMO, April 20 - Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are demanding that changes be made to the U.S. Census Bureau’s policy of counting colonia residents.

CHC Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, 1st Vice Chair Charlie Gonzalez, and 2nd Vice Chair Rubén Hinojosa have sent a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves voicing their concerns.

The representatives are particularly upset that 95 percent of colonia residents will not be sent Census questionnaires in the mail. Instead, the residents must wait to be visited by a Census worker who will fill out the form by asking questions verbally.

“We are talking about over a quarter of a million residents in the Rio Grande Valley who did not receive a census form,” said Hinojosa, D-Mercedes. “I want to see the Census Bureau work closely with local community leaders and to launch an aggressive Spanish language advertising campaign, letting colonia residents know to expect a Census counter at their door.”

In their letter, the CHC members ask Groves to extend the Census Bureau’s Update/Enumerate period for colonia residents, from the end of May, to July 10. They also ask Groves keep the agency’s “Be Counted” sites open until July 10.

“We feel that in the year 2000, our population was vastly under-counted,” Hinojosa said. “The fewer people we claim to be residents in our area means less federal funding for new schools, roads and hospitals. Another factor, we must consider, is that the state of Texas could be eligible to gain three to four new Congressional seats, which is also very important for our residents.”

Groves visited Rio Grande City on Saturday to see first hand how the Census count was going in border colonias. He admitted to reporters at Hinojosa Elementary School that the agency had failed to explain its border colonia count operation to local residents and the non-profits that work in colonias.

“The Census Bureau did not get out the right message for South Texas colonia populations and did not properly coordinate with local organizations,” Groves said, in an interview with the Guardian.

“That said, in all reality the most effective way to conduct a census is to actually interface with the people you want to count. The funds aren't there to do it nationwide in every household. The main thing is that everybody is now on the same page.”

In their letter to Groves, the CHC members point out that the border region is among the fastest growing regions of the country. The also point out that in other hard-to-count areas, the Census Bureau has taken “bold and proactive” steps to count special populations and other hard-to-count residents. For example, in Los Angeles, the Census Bureau spent long nights counting the city’s homeless. In affluent Washington, D.C., suburbs, households received a second questionnaire to avoid an undercount.

The CHC members say that given the “severe consequences” of an undercount along the U.S. border region, a number of key actions need to be taken by Groves. The letter lists them:

• Extend the Update/Enumerate period for residents living in colonias and rural areas along the U.S.-Mexico border until July 10;
• Hire enough enumerators to cover the entire U.S.-Mexico border region;
• Work closely with local community leaders, non-profit organizations, and Spanish language media outlets to provide colonia residents with advance notice of Census enumeration activities and dates;
• Refine and continue public advertising messages by the Bureau to hard-to-count areas to explain the method of counting. Currently, only the national “fill out your form and mail it back” is being used across the board in border districts;
• Keep ‘Be Counted’ sites open until July 10 in colonias and rural areas along the border.

“We understand the Bureau is attempting to carry out the national count in the most effective manner,” the letter states. “However, it appears that the agency is inflexible in its efforts and methodology in the case of the heavily Hispanic U.S.-Mexico border, especially South Texas.”

The letter points out that in the 2000 Census the South Texas region was undercounted using the same ‘Update/Enumerate’ policy.

“An undercount once again of these residents in 2010 is unacceptable and would leave them behind for another decade,” the letter adds. “Colonia residents are eager to participate in Census 2010, but they must be given the opportunity to be counted. We respectfully ask that you treat these issues with urgency and give this region the attention it deserves.”

Write Steve Taylor

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